Vespus Theronian
'Vespus Theronian '''is a former monk of the Golden Crescent. Born a scion of House Theronian, he was abducted from his family by the monastic order when he was five, to be groomed into an expert assassin. By his 26th, however, he became disillusioned with the Crescent and fled the monastery, eventually finding haven among the fellowship battling Anax and the Golden March. Biography Early life Vespus was born on the 18th of Hearthfire, 4E 285, as the youngest child of Primus I Theronian and Marianna Torissis. Growing up, he was a bright and happy child, and was particularly close to his older brother, Tractos. On the day he turned five, however, he was abducted by monks from the Golden Crescent and brought to their monastery, to be inducted into their order. He underwent their rigorous training and indoctrination, turning him into one of their legendarily deadly assassins. By his fifteenth, he was capable of infiltrating the most secure strongholds and taking out his target without ever being seen. Among his targets were numerous kings and other high-profile officials. The Crescent's indoctrination never properly took effect on him, however, and he maintained some sense of free will and conscience all the while. As the years went by, this started to affect him more and more, as he began to question the reasons he was assassinating his targets. This finally culminated on his 26th, when the Abbot tasked him with killing a young duke. When he found his target, he learned that this duke was indeed very young: barely six years old. He could not bring himself to kill the child, and returned to the monastery unsuccessful. Entirely disillusioned with the Crescent, he fled from the monastery that night. Events of ''New Imperia: the Golden March Ves ran through Cyrodiil for three days without pause, trying to shake potential pursuers, until he made it to New Imperia. Here, he had his first interaction with the fellowship against Anax, albeit an indirect one; he ran into a tavern maid, Petra, who was put under mind control by the Telepath Ori to call Mortimer. Inside the tavern, he met a talking cat belonging to the necromancer Virde, who offered him a place to rest. Upon telling Virde about his run-in with Petra, the man insisted that they'd go back to investigate, as he suspected a dangerous Telepath to be in play. This was when Ves first met members of the fellowship; he and Virde tried to question Malikah, another Telepath, but Virde's utter social ineptitude ended up getting them into a fight with several fellowship members, though this was resolved when their intentions were clarified. Ves joined the fellowship then and there, considering that he had nowhere else to go and their goals were just. Ves took an almost immediate liking to Eilonwyn II Hallison, 'Julie', and quickly found himself infatuated with her. After participating in the defeat of Amzdel, he took it upon himself to try to aid Julie in overcoming her crippling grief for the loss of her lover, Set Oakvale, seven years earlier. They also developed a somewhat shaky relationship, the existence of which was often threatened by that very grief. After Mortimer died in the decisive battle against Amzdel's army in the streets of New Imperia, the fellowship sought to build him a new, artificial body with the Animoncultory of Avanchnzel. There, Julie told him that she didn't want him, but the next morning, in Falkreath, they rekindled their relationship, only to then nearly be dislodged again when the Fallen made a return and Julie came under the spell of a shard of the Blighted Knight's blade. That evening, Julie gave up her spear, which was an artifact given by Hircine, and intended to commit suicide in the forest, but Ves managed to talk her out of it. From that moment onward, Ves' and Julie's relationship slowly but certainly started to solidify. Having brought Mortimer back among the living, the fellowship travelled to Bruma to deal with a Lich there. With the help of the count's daughter, they tracked it down to an Ayleid ruin and defeated it. That night, the fellowship slept in an inn in Bruma, but the next morning, most of them were abducted by Anax, save Mortimer, Fhena, Errant, and Virde. They were put into a shared dream world, set five years into the future in a scenario where Anax had successfully come to power. Though most of them were subjected to mental or physical torture, Julie and Ves remained somewhat unscathed. In the meantime, the remaining free members tracked Anax to his lair to rescue the others - though that proved unnecessary, as the rest already broke out of the dream by defeating Anax inside of it. United once more, the fellowship delved deeper into Anax's lair and eventually found their nemesis, whom they swiftly felled with their combined might. It turned out to be a trick, however; Anax was still alive, using a different body, and he had gathered an army of mind-controlled slaves outside. In a climactic battle on the hill, the fellowship made its final stand against Anax. Ves and Julie fought together, but as the battle drew on, Ves began to lose himself in his battle-trance and lost track of the distinction between enemy and friend. This culminated in Ves stabbing Julie in the abdomen, mortally wounding her. In desperation, he accepted Anax's offer to keep her alive if he killed the rest of the fellowship, though fortunately Ori sent Sulvis out to heal Julie before Ves could hurt anyone. Ves vowed to never again invoke his battle-trance, out of fear for what might happen. In the end, the fellowship destroyed most of the army, while Ori destroyed and absorbed Anax's mind and Mortimer killed the physical body. The quest had come to an end. In the evening, Ves and Julie spent the night together again, and Julie revealed that she loved him back. From that moment onward, their relationship was set in stone. Personality Ves is a witty and easy-going person. He is nearly always optimistic, and seems to have the ability to find the silver lining in any bad situation. In spite of spending two decades under the indoctrination of the Golden Crescent, he has a strong conscience, and dislikes hurting others if they do not deserve it. The fact that he has managed to defy the Crescent's brainwashing techniques also shows that he has a very strong mind; this is also shown when Anax puts him into a dream world, where he is not fooled by the illusions. Ves is highly empathetic, and has the uncanny ability to read the thoughts and emotions of those around him by looking at their expressions and body language, to a degree beyond the capabilities of most ordinary humans. As a lover, Ves is wholly devoted to his partner, to the point where it could almost be considered submissive. He spends most of his time either with or around Julie, and goes to great lengths to make her happy. He has a strong aversion to treating her roughly in any way, even in bed, instead sticking to being passionate and intimate. Skills and abilities Having been raised and trained by the Golden Crescent for twenty-one years, Ves is an incredibly skilled combatant and infiltrator. According to himself, he can enter and leave the most impregnable fortresses without ever being noticed. In combat, Ves fights with an artful grace that bears resemblance to dancing. His weapon of choice is the staff used by the Golden Crescent's monks, which in fact conceals both a spear and a slender sword, though he is adept with most conventional weaponry. He is also a highly skilled unarmed combatant. Ves' most notable ability is his battle-trance, taught to him by the Crescent. By focusing and becalming his mind, he can invoke this oddly tranquil state of mind, in which he takes his artful fighting style to an incredibly high level of deadliness. In this trance, which he likes to refer to as the 'dance of death', he is capable of cutting down endless droves of opponents. Interestingly, Julie seems to be capable of joining him when he invokes the dance, bolstering both of their deadliness as they perform a sort of duet. Prolonged time spent in trance poses a significant risk, however: the longer Ves remains in trance, the faster and more dangerous he will become, but he will also lose grip over the distinction between friend and foe. This has happened once, and it resulted in Julie nearly dying. Appearances New Imperia: The Golden March * Part XXII (first appearance) - Part XLIII Category:New Imperia Category:Characters Category:Imperials Category:Males Category:Monks